Barnes C A, McNaughton B L
Behav Neurosci. 1985 Dec;99(6):1040-8. doi: 10.1037//0735-7044.99.6.1040.
Age differences in the rates of acquisition and forgetting of a spatial memory problem were compared with corresponding differences in the rates of increase and decay of long-term synaptic enhancement (LTE) of hippocampal synapses, induced by high-frequency stimulation of perforant path fibers. Old animals approached their final asymptotic performance levels more slowly than did the young animals and exhibited faster rates of forgetting of the problem. Similarly, LTE reached its maximum more slowly in the old animals and decayed more quickly. Although the absolute rates of behavioral acquisition and forgetting were different from the corresponding rates of increase and decay of LTE, the relative differences between age groups were rather similar. This was particularly true for the comparison of forgetting with LTE decay. The relation of these data to the hypothesis that LTE underlies spatial learning and memory is discussed.
比较了在空间记忆问题的获取和遗忘速率方面的年龄差异，以及由穿通路径纤维高频刺激诱导的海马突触长期突触增强（LTE）的增加和衰减速率方面的相应差异。老年动物达到最终渐近表现水平的速度比年轻动物慢，并且该问题的遗忘速度更快。同样，LTE在老年动物中达到最大值的速度更慢，衰减更快。尽管行为获取和遗忘的绝对速率与LTE增加和衰减的相应速率不同，但年龄组之间的相对差异相当相似。在遗忘与LTE衰减的比较中尤其如此。讨论了这些数据与LTE是空间学习和记忆基础这一假设的关系。
